Steps toward GC ports' contract

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) have taken a step forward in labor contract negotiations for U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports. ILA President Harold Daggett notified union members Sept. 25 that USMX had presented a proposed contract extension. ILA is “reviewing and evaluating the contents of this document and has contacted USMX to clarify some of the times in the document,” he wrote in a memo to members. The proposal marks the beginning of the end of the Maine-to-Texas labor agreement that will expires in 2018. In previous statements about the negotiations, ILA was opposed to fully automated container terminals; but amenable to semi-automated terminals, according to Daggett back in January. Daggett’s memo did not share the contents of the USMX proposal. The ILA president did say that a Wage Scale Committee meeting will be convened to discuss the proposal; and that ILA members would be notified when those meeting dates are finalized. (Source: American Shipper 09/26/17)